Assessment of the ways of Fars Province's residents being informed of holding up the Health Week and its effect on their knowledge about Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

Background: Diabetes is currently one of the most prominent causes of mortality and among the intensifying concerns of public health in the world. Education and enhancement of people’s knowledge about this disease can play an effective role in diabetes prevention and control. The present study was aimed at assessment of the effects of the Health week’s programs about diabetes on the citizens of Fars Province.
 Methods: In this descriptive-analytical research, carried out interventionally, 501 people participated in the study both before and after the Health week. To define the sample’s volume, we used multi-stage cluster sampling. The study was conducted by using a made questionnaire which consisted of two parts, one part for demographic information and the other part for information about the people’s knowledge level of the Health Week and diabetes. The obtained data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics and Mc Nemar test, Paired t test, and independent sample t test in SPSS19.
 Results: The results indicated that holding up the Health Week had significant effect on enhancement of the participants’ knowledge about the disease and the ways of its diagnosis as well as the prevention methods (p-value < .001). In addition, there was a significant change in the frequency of health informational resources in mass media such as TV, radio, social media and internet, pamphlets and poster (p-value < .001), while no significant difference was observed through billboards, Healthcare centers’ staff, etc. before and after the week.
 Conclusion: Informing people about the Health week and its programs through mass media can play an effective role in enhancement of people’s health knowledge andlead to prevention of the disease and proper behavior to fight it.